The 412th Test Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Air Force Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The 412th Test Wing was established in 1972 as the 6510th Test Wing, which assumed the flying mission of the Air Force Flight Test Center upon activation. The wing has performed flight testing of fighter, bomber, mobility, and rotary wing aircraft. In addition, the 412th Test Wing has carried out free-flight testing of space vehicles such as the Space Shuttle.
In 1992, the 6510th Wing was consolidated with the 412th Fighter Group, which was activated during World War II as the first unit in the Army Air Forces to fly jet aircraft. It was inactivated in 1946, transferring its fighters and personnel to another unit. The group was again activated in 1955 to provide air defense on the northern border of the United States, inactivating in 1960 as Strategic Air Command assumed control of its base for use by heavy bombers.
Mission The 412th Test Wing conducts developmental testing of U.S. Air Force aircraft and systems throughout their lifecycle. It is made up of seven numbered groups and the U. S. Air Force Test Pilot School. As the host wing for Edwards Air Force Base, it also operates and maintains base infrastructure.
The 412th Test Wing plans, conducts, analyzes, and reports on all flight and ground testing of aircraft, weapons systems, software and components as well as modeling and simulation for the USAF. It is also the host wing for Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. – the 2nd largest base in the Air Force. The wing oversees base day-to-day operations and provides support for over 10,000 military, federal civilian and contract personnel assigned to a 470 square mile installation. Approximately 1500 Test Wing Desert Warriors directly support the test and evaluation mission of the Air Force Test Center and the 412th Test Wing.
The wing is responsible for operating the base, including the infrastructure, communication systems, security, fire protection, transportation, supply, finance, contracting, legal services, personnel and manpower support, housing, education, chapel and quality of life programs on a 301,000-acre base in the middle of the Mojave Desert, the second largest base in the U.S. Air Force.
The 412th is host to over 100,000 visitors annually and supports over 25,000 dependents, retirees, and veterans. Major units within the wing include the 412th Mission Support and the 412th Medical Groups, as well the 412th Civil Engineer/Transportation Directorate, 412th Security Forces Squadron and the Services and Comptroller Divisions. Staff agencies include chaplain services, base comptroller, inspector general, manpower and organization, and military equal opportunity and public affairs. Units 412th Operations Group (412 OG) There are eight flight test squadrons with as many as 20 aircraft assigned to each. The aircraft are grouped by mission Global Power (fighters and bombers) 411th Flight Test Squadron: (F-22) 416th Flight Test Squadron: (F-16, T-7) 419th Flight Test Squadron: (B-52H, B-1, B-2, C-12) 420th Flight Test Squadron: (B-21) 461st Flight Test Squadron: (F-35 Lightning II) Global Reach (mobility) 418th Flight Test Squadron: (C-17, KC-135, KC-46) Global Vigilance (unmanned) 452nd Flight Test Squadron: (RQ-4) Flying units under the Operations Group are called flight test squadrons and the squadron commander also usually fulfills the role of Combined Test Force, or CTF, Director.
Members of the CTF formulate the test program, develop the criteria for flight test missions, execute flight test missions, analyze data from the test flights and report on the results. The CTF military personnel, government civilians, and contractors all work together as a team. This concept enables a cheaper, faster, and more effective test program and produces a more effective aerospace system for the warfighter.
Risk is an accepted component of flight testing, but Edwards maintains a stellar safety record due to Edwards' benchmark flight test safety processes. The AFTC's mission focuses on Developmental Test and Evaluation which is the process used to identify risks that need to be reduced or eliminated before fielding new systems. As DT&E is accomplished, aircraft systems transition to Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, or IOT&E where the aircraft are evaluated for combat effectiveness and suitability for an intended mission.
412th Operations Support Squadron (Airfield, Air Traffic Control, Aircrew Flight Equipment, Scheduling, Airdrop, SERE, and the Test Parachutist Program)
412th Test Engineering Group (412 TENG) 773d Test Squadron 775th Test Squadron 812th Test Squadron 412th Hypersonic Flight Test Team 412th Range Squadron 412th Electronic Warfare Group (412 EWG) 771st Test Squadron 772d Test Squadron
The 412th Engineering and the 412th Electronic Warfare Groups provide the central components in the conduct of the Test and Evaluation mission. They provide the tools, talent and equipment for the core disciplines of aircraft structures, propulsion, avionics and electronic warfare evaluation of the latest weapon system technologies. They are also host to the core facilities that enable flight and ground test with the Range Division, Benefield Anechoic Facility, Integrated Flight Avionics Systems Test Facility and the Air Force Electronic Warfare Evaluation Simulator.
412th Maintenance Group (412 MXG) Through a maintenance group of over 2,000 people and an operations group of 3,000, the 412th Test Wing maintains and flies an average of 90 aircraft with upwards of 30 different aircraft designs and performs over 7,400 missions (over 1,900 test missions) on an annual basis.
412th Test Management Division (412 TMD) Project Management Division Resource Management Division Special Projects Branch Rounding out the test wing are the Project and Resource Management Divisions who provide the foundation for the successful program management of test missions.
U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) The Test Pilot School, also part of the Test Wing, is where the Air Force pilots, navigators and engineers learn how to conduct flight tests and generate the data needed to carry out test missions. Human lives and millions of dollars depend upon how carefully and successfully a test mission is planned and flown. The comprehensive curriculum of Test Pilot School is the synthesis of decades of successful of flight test and evaluation experience.
History World War II
The 412th Test Wing's origins can be traced to 29 November 1943 when the 412th Fighter Group was activated at Muroc Army Air Field, California.Maurer, Combat Units pp. 296–297 Testing of the Bell P-59 Airacomet jet fighter was being conducted at a site on the north shore of Rogers Dry Lakebed, about six miles away from the training base at Muroc.Huetter & Glazer
The group remained a headquarters-only group until 11 March 1944 when the 445th Fighter Squadron was assigned to begin flying the Airacomet for operational testing.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 551 In June, the group moved to Palmdale Army Air Field, California and was brought up to full strength in the summer, when the 29th and 31st Fighter Squadrons were assigned.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 146Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 153–154 Its original mission was to conduct tests and engage in experimental aircraft work as part of IV Fighter Command.
The 412th was the first American jet fighter group to be activated. The P-59A was shortly joined by a second jet fighter, the Lockheed XP-80 Shooting Star. As with virtually all of the test programs conducted during the war years, most of the initial flight test work on the XP-59 had been conducted by the contractor. The group developed training programs and trained aircrew and ground personnel as cadres for newly formed jet aircraft-equipped units. Problems with the planes' Allison J33 engines kept the group's Shooting Stars grounded through part of 1945, and the plan's accident rate was twice that of any other fighter in the Army Air Forces inventory.Knaack, Post-War Fighters, p. 4
In November 1945, the group moved to March Field, California, where the 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron was attached to it to begin testing the P-80 as a reconnaissance aircraft.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 184–185 The group was inactivated on 3 July 1946 and its mission, personnel and jet aircraft were transferred to the 1st Fighter Group.Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 21–24
Air Defense Command
On 18 August 1955 the 412th Fighter Group (Air Defense) was activated by Air Defense Command (ADC) at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan, where it assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 527th Air Defense Group, which was simultaneously inactivated.Cornett & Johnson, p. 83 This action was part of ADC's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.Buss, et al., p. 6 The 445th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron moved from Geiger Field, Washington and assumed the Northrop F-89D Scorpions of the 527th's 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, since Project Arrow also reunited fighter squadrons with their traditional group headquarters. These two seat interceptor aircraft were radar equipped and armed with Mighty Mouse rockets. The 412th was also assigned several support organizations as the host for active duty USAF units at Wurtsmith.Cornet & Johnson, pp. 140 (412th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron)Cornet & Johnson, 146 (412th Materiel Squadron) (412th USAF Infirmary, later 412th USAF Dispensary) (412th Air Base Squadron)
The mission of the group was the air defense of the Upper Great Lakes region. In March 1956 the group's 445th Squadron became the first unit in ADC to convert to the F-89H, which could carry the GAR-1 Falcon in addition to Mighty Mouse rockets. The squadron soon upgraded to the F-89J.Cornett & Johnson, p. 128 On 1 January 1957 the 412th became one of the first two groups in ADC to place its F-89Js armed with 2 nuclear MB-1 Genie missiles, one under each wing, on alert.Ray, p. 21 These aircraft were on thirty-minute "standby alert" in addition to the 412th's requirement to maintain aircraft on five-minute alert armed with conventional weapons.Ray, pp. 31–32. Alert aircraft armed with Genies could not be launched to identify unknown aircraft unless at DEFCON 1.Ray, pp. 28–29
On 8 June 1956 the group expanded when a second fighter squadron, the 31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was activated. The 31st flew the single seat Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, which, like the later model F-89s of the 445th, was equipped with data link for interception control through the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system. However the 31st remained at Wurtsmith only briefly, before swapping places with the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and moving to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska on 20 August 1957, while the 18th moved from Ladd Air Force Base, Alaska to Wurtsmith.
Strategic Air Command (SAC) believed its bases with large concentrations of Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers made attractive targets for Soviet missiles.Knaack, Post=War Bombers, p. 252 SAC's response was to break up its wings and scatter their aircraft over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. As part of this dispersal, SAC established the 4026th Strategic Wing at Wurtsmith in 1958 and the base expanded to accept bombers and tankers.Mueller, pp. 613–615